Ice
Two friends of mine once decided to be roommates. One of the household issues they were constantly bickering over was the ice cube dispenser. They had one of those in the door dispensers that could be set to either crushed or cubed ice. One insisted that crushed ice didn't block the glass and cooled his drinks faster. The other complained that
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Unfortunately for Friend B, even though he may desire a cool drink, he desires a drink with an alcohol content in a certain range. If equivalent masses of ice were used in both drinks, as long as they were the same drink and the same container in the same environment, both drinks would reach the same equilibrium temperature, as you said. The masses of ice will absorb the same amount of heat from the drink before melting, the phase change from Ice to water will absorb the same amount of heat in both cases, and thenewley melted water will absorb the same amount of heat reaching equilibrium in both cases. Along withtemperature, both drinks will be diluted by the same amount of water in the end.
The crucial difference for Friend B is not the end dilution or the end temperature, since he probably isn't going to wait around for his ice to melt. The crucial difference is how long his drink can stay within a certain alcohol content range. The crushed ice will melt faster than the block ice and thus the alcohol content of his drink will dip below the range he prefers sooner. With block ice, he gets to enjoy his drink for a longer time than he would with crushed ice.
Friend B doesn't like chugging his drink, does he?
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